Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Spring/Section33/Sharon Cousins

Overview
Sharon Cousins was a hobo who traveled around the United States by freight train, working miscellaneous, unskilled jobs throughout the Great Depression in the 1930s. He was interviewed for the Federal Writers' Project on January 21, 1939, at the age of 24 in Mobile, Alabama.

Early Life
Sharon Cousins was the youngest of three children born to Elizabeth McDermott and Bert Cousins on September 11, 1914 in Ellensburg, Washington. He began school at the age of 7 and continued through age 19, earning good grades and the equivalent of an eighth grade education. Both of his parents died before he turned 20. During his summers, Cousins worked herding sheep and made friends with members of the Yakama Native American tribe.

Hobo Career
In the early 1930s, Cousins began his career as a hobo (or as he affectionately deemed it, a “Knight of the Road”), traveling to Bellingham, Washington to work as a Sawyer. From there, Cousins hopped freight trains across the nation and performed odds and ends jobs, from picking potatoes in Idaho to cleaning elevator shafts in North Carolina. Never staying in one place for more than a few months at a time, he lived in a variety of accommodations, including Salvation Army barracks, freight train boxcars, Federal Transient Bureau locations, and homes of friends that he met along the way. He was caught hopping trains by law enforcement on several occasions, but he was treated well in every case and emerged unscathed. Before being interviewed for the Federal Writers Project in Mobile, Alabama on January 21, 1939, Cousins had lived and worked in at least 19 states and over 50 cities and towns, all within the span of about five years. Places where he found the most work included Oregon, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Cousins was given the opportunity to settle down in one place, but instead he continued on his journeys due to either economic hardship or his “wanderlust.” In his 1939 interview, Cousins said he was considering settling down in Mobile, Alabama permanently, but first wanted to make at least one more trip West.

Connections
Sharon Cousins accredits much of his success as a hobo to the strength of relationships he formed during his travels. Below are three of his most valuable connections.

Richard O'Donoghue
Cousins met Mr. Richard O’Donoghue on a freight train in Utah. He was a wealthy ranch owner who had temporarily taken to the hobo lifestyle in order to “see what life was.” Cousins worked on O’Donoghue’s ranch in Pendleton, Oregon and stayed with his family on multiple occasions. O’Donoghue’s ranch became a reliable place for Cousins to find work and shelter should he need it. He was even offered permanent residence in Oregon, but made the choice to continue traveling.

"Miss Thelma"
Miss Thelma was a teacher at the State Teachers College in Bloomberg, Pennsylvania. Sharon Cousins stayed at her house while working a painting job. He intended to marry her, but was unable to due to eventual employment troubles that forced him to return to his travels.

Ernest Hetrick
Mr. Ernest Hetrick was an employer in Youngsville, Ohio, who after hearing about the measly Thanksgiving dinner served to Cousins at the Salvation Army barracks, invited Cousins for Christmas dinner in his own home. The treatment Sharon Cousins received from Hetrick is emblematic of many similar acts of kindness he encountered during his travels.

Hobo Culture
Hobos have existed in the United States since the end of the Civil War. They are classified as English-speaking, unskilled, migrant workers who hop freight trains to find jobs. Hobos differ from tramps, or migrants who do not work, and they view this difference with pride. They adhere to a code of respect, cleanliness, and humility, placing personal freedom at the center of their value system. They stay wherever they can, from government facilities and private charities to camps nicknamed “hobo jungles.” They communicate with one another through their own jargon and symbols, and have developed a vast genre of folk music. There are many reasons people chose to be hobos, including seasonal work, unemployment, problems at home, discrimination, and wanderlust.

During the Great Depression, there was a large expansion of the hobo culture as millions of Americans lost employment in the early 1930s. In 1934, the US Bureau of Transient Affairs estimated there were 1.5 million homeless Americans traveling via freight train. This upswing prompted a negative response from many local governments, and law enforcement became very aggressive towards hobos, going as far as throwing them off of moving trains. However, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs simultaneously utilized this migratory workforce to enact a series of public works projects. This peak in hobo culture was brought to an abrupt end with the start of America’s involvement in World War II.

Depression-Era Migrant Youth
Nels Anderson, a public official in Chicago, estimated that roughly 10 percent of America’s transient population during the Great Depression were under the age of 21. Many of America’s youth during this time had no economic reason to stay home, so they fled in the night, hopped on the nearest freight train, and traveled the country in search of work. This was especially true in large families; one less mouth to feed could make a big difference, so these children often held the belief that by leaving, they were helping their family survive. However, not all youth left home out of need. Many became entranced with the migratory lifestyle from the stories heard in their local “hobo jungles” or from adults in their community who served as their role models. This led to the belief that hobos were a bad influence on the youth, further encouraging public officials to create policy that stigmatized hobos.